Larry King's Replies To Personalities He Would Have Liked To Interview

Larry King

Larry King,Â author
ofÂ Truth Be Told: Off the Record about Favorite Guests,
Memorable Moments, Funniest Jokes, and a Half Century of Asking
Questions, was the host of CNN's Larry King Live, the first worldwide
phone-in television talk show and the network's highest-rated program
for twenty-five years. the Emmy-winning King also founded the Larry
King Cardiac Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars and
provided lifesaving cardiac procedures for nearly sixty needy
children and adults.

I was speaking at The
University of Texas -- Pan American not long ago and a student asked
me a question that had never been asked of me in more than fifty
years of broadcasting.

"What fictional
character would you like to interview?"

My first thought was
Superman. Of course, there's the obvious question we'd all like
answered:

Isn't it kind of
incredible that after you took off your glasses no one recognized you
as Clark Kent?

When I took off my glasses
in front of the crowd at Pan American, they laughed. Hey, it's plain
to see, I'm still Larry.

Dick Tracy is another
fictional character I'd like to have had on Larry King Live. I
would've asked him:

What made you so
crazed about crime as to put all other things secondary? Did
something happen in your childhood?

Why? Why only yellow
coats?

Who gave you your
watch?

How come your hat
never fell off?

Then there's Hamlet.

Ever think you'd
become famous?

Did you like what
Bill wrote?

A ghost comes to talk
to you. You bought that?

Did you ever just
think it was your imagination?

Do you really speak
that way? C'mon, speak to me real?

Over the years, people
have asked about the subjects I always wished I had a chance to
interview. Off the top of my head, there are three.

The first is Cuba's
revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro. I went to Havana to try to
arrange an interview with him a few years ago. I was shocked to find
out how many people in Cuba knew who I was. As I walked down the
street, people ran over, screaming: Senor Larry! Senor Larry!

Unfortunately, the
interview couldn't be arranged. But here are a few of the questions I
would've asked Fidel:

Did you ever
communicate with an American president?

Was your revolution a
success?

How do you measure
success?

How does it feel when
your daughter speaks out against you?

What did you make of
the fall of communism in the Soviet Union?

How has the blockade
hurt you the most?

Did you ever think
that the United States would change its policies?

Then there's Prince
Charles. To be quite honest, I've never been a big fan of our shows
on British royalty. Certainly, the death of Princess Di was a major
new story, and we covered it thoroughly. But it seemed to me we did
way too many shows on the royals than were necessary. I understand
the appetite among the public for all things royal. But Prince
Charles is a figure of interest to me simply as a man. I'd like to
ask him:

How does it feel to
have things given to you that others have to strive for?

What's the biggest
burden of royalty?

In British history,
is Gandhi a hero?

How do the British
see Benedict Arnold?

How do you view prime
ministers? Do you want to speak out more politically?

What are your
thoughts on America?

What can you tell us
from the heart about Lady Di?

Then, there's the Pope. I
would've liked to have interviewed any Pope. Once, the producers at
Larry King Live got a maybe from John Paul II, but it never worked
out. If I could sit with Pope Benedict XVI, I'd like to know:

Did you want the job?

Did you lobby for the
job?

What are the biggest
failings of the church?

What was the most
disturbing part of the priest/child molestation scandal in the
United States?

In truth, how
difficult is celibacy?

Will we have a black
pope?

Ordinarily, at 78 years
old, I might look upon these questions with sadness that they were
never asked. But now that ORA.tv, my new Internet company, is about
to get started, they just may. You never know . . .